Sharks' mea culpa is fine - to a point

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, May 28, 2009

Chronicle columnist, Ray Ratto, stands for a photograph inside the studio on Tuesday Jan. 27, 2008 in San Francisco,Calif.

Chronicle columnist, Ray Ratto, stands for a photograph inside the studio on Tuesday Jan. 27, 2008 in San Francisco,Calif.

Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

Sharks' mea culpa is fine - to a point

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It's been a little more than a month since the Sharks did their face-plant in Anaheim, and since then, they have not passed on any opportunity to flog themselves with tire and chains and chant, "We're Not Worthy" like drunken college kids who just saw the "Wayne's World" movie for the 34th time in one weekend.

Their last stop of the Tour of Shame was Tuesday's "Chronicle Live," and Sharks President Greg (Party Dude) Jamison and general manager Doug Wilson gave themselves another healthy public walloping for losing in the first round of the playoffs, and promised that their players would be available until further notice for fresh rounds of same.

At some point, this self-abasement-fest will lose its charm, to be replaced by trade rumors and demands for action so that the poor, put-upon fans won't have to live the humiliating nightmare of the Presidents' Trophy ever again.

In the meantime, let's just enjoy the weirdness of the one pro team in the Bay Area that succeeds to a measurable degree being the one most willing to admit its shortcomings. Even if it is to a degree bordering on the pathological.

The Warriors, as an example of the opposite phenomenon, are in a perpetual state of "The guy we just fired messed us up, but we fixed it just in time and we're gonna start rolling this year for sure." The 49ers use Mike Singletary as the motivational speaker who cures the franchise's normal state of emotional anemia. The Raiders use institutional suspicion of the outside world. The A's use the uncertain real-estate market, and the Giants use the dead-ball era.

The Sharks are to be commended for their "Kick Us, We Can Take It" campaign. Taking responsibility for failure, even failure with an asterisk, is a refreshing and clever marketing idea that our other franchises would consider right after their "What Did You Expect? We're Idiots" campaigns. But even reflexive apologies run their course pretty quickly, and then they have to show their cards for 2010 just like everyone else. That time is approaching very quickly.